In the fabrication of roll products, such as paper towelling or toilet tissue, the product is initially wound in the form of a long roll or log, which is subsequenlty cut into small rolls and packaged for shipment and sale. If the free end or tail of the roll is not securely fastened to the body of the roll, the slitting and packaging operation may not be properly performed in which event the packaging machinery may jam or excess paper from the roll may protrude from the package resulting in an unsightly appearance.
In the past, various mechanisms have been utilized for sealing the tail to the roll. In the tail sealing apparatus, as disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 4,299,642, a pair of parallel rotatable rollers define a tail separation station and a tail wind-up station that are disposed longitudinally along the length of the rollers. The wound roll is rotated about its axis at the tail separation station and air jets mounted adjacent the rollers separate the tail from the body of the rotating roll. The separated tail is supported on an apron that extends laterally from the rollers.
As disclosed in the aforementioned patent, after separation of the tail, rotation of the rollers is stopped and the roll with the separated tail being supported on the apron, is moved longitudinally along the rollers to the wind-up station. As the roll is moved to the wind-up station, a bead of adhesive is applied to the tail from a fixed adhesive head. At the wind-up station, the roll is rotated to wind the separated tail back onto the body of the roll.
At high speed operation in which the roll is rotated in the neighborhood of 100 rpm, it is not possible to stop the roll instantaneously, due to the inertia of the roll and related mechanical drive train components. Due to the time interval required to stop the roll, continued rotation of the roll may tend to move the separated tail from the support apron. If this occurs, it is necessary to rotate the roll in the opposite direction in order to reposition the tail on the supporting apron.
It has also been found that at high speed operation, the application of the adhesive to the separated tail tends to hold the tail against the apron and resist movement of the tail from the tail separating station to the wind-up station, with the result that the tail may tend to fold over. If the tail folds over, the tail cannot be properly rewound at the wind-up station.